1970 Dallas Cowboys season

1970 Dallas Cowboys season
Head coach	Tom Landry
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Home field	Cotton Bowl
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Super Bowl V (Baltimore)

The Cowboys playing against the Colts in Super Bowl V

The 1970 Dallas Cowboys season was the team's 11th in the National Football League.

The Cowboys scored 299 points and allowed 221 points. For the fifth consecutive season, the Cowboys finished first in their division. In 1970, the club made its debut on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 38–0. The Cowboys made it to their first Super Bowl and lost to the Baltimore Colts.

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
23	Dallas Cowboys	Duane Thomas	Running Back	West Texas State

Regular season

The Cowboys had to overcome many obstacles during the regular season. Fullback Calvin Hill, the team's second leading rusher with 577 yards and 4 touchdowns, was lost for the year after suffering a leg injury late in the regular season. And wide receiver Bob Hayes was benched by head coach Tom Landry for poor performances on several occasions.

Most significantly, the Cowboys had a quarterback controversy between Craig Morton and Roger Staubach. Morton and Staubach alternated as the starting quarterback during the regular season, but Landry eventually chose Morton to start Super Bowl V because he felt less confident that Staubach would follow his game plan (Landry called all of Morton's plays in Super Bowl V).^[1] Also, Morton had done extremely well in the regular season, throwing for 1,819 yards and 15 touchdowns, with only 7 interceptions, earning him a passer rating of 89.8. In contrast, Staubach, although a noted scrambler and able to salvage broken plays effectively, threw for 542 yards, and only 2 touchdowns compared to 8 interceptions, giving him a 42.9 rating.

Hayes was the main deep threat on the team, catching 34 passes for 889 yards (a 26.1 yards per catch average) and 10 touchdowns, while also rushing 4 times for 34 yards and another touchdown, and adding another 116 yards returning punts. On the other side of the field, wide receiver Lance Rentzel recorded 28 receptions for 556 yards and 5 touchdowns.

However, the main strength on the Cowboys offense was their running game. Rookie running back Duane Thomas rushed 151 times for 803 yards (a 5.1 yards per carry average) and 5 touchdowns, while adding another 416 yards returning kickoffs. Fullback Walt Garrison, who replaced the injured Hill, provided Thomas with excellent blocking and rushed for 507 yards and 3 touchdowns himself. Garrison was also a good receiver out of the backfield, catching 21 passes for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns. Up front, Pro Bowl guard John Niland and future Hall of Famer tackle Rayfield Wright anchored the offensive line.

The Cowboys had their lowest regular season (6–2 vs. Cleveland Browns) and playoff (5–0 vs. Detroit Lions) scoring games in franchise history.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	1970-09-20	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–7	Franklin Field	59,728
2	1970-09-27	New York Giants	W 28–10	Cotton Bowl	57,236
3	1970-10-04	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,780
4	1970-10-11	Atlanta Falcons	W 13–0	Cotton Bowl	53,611
5	1970-10-18	at Minnesota Vikings	L 54–13	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900
6	1970-10-25	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–16	Municipal Stadium	51,158
7	1970-11-01	Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–17	Cotton Bowl	55,736
8	1970-11-08	at New York Giants	L 23–20	Yankee Stadium	62,938
9	1970-11-16	St. Louis Cardinals	L 38–0	Cotton Bowl	69,323
10	1970-11-22	at Washington Redskins	W 45–21	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	50,415
11	1970-11-26	Green Bay Packers	W 16–3	Cotton Bowl	67,182
12	1970-12-06	Washington Redskins	W 34–0	Cotton Bowl	57,936
13	1970-12-12	at Cleveland Browns	W 6–2	Cleveland Stadium	75,458
14	1970-12-20	Houston Oilers	W 52–10	Cotton Bowl	50,504

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 0 7 7 3 17 Eagles 7 0 0 0 7 Date: September 20 Location: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 67°F • Wind 7 Referee: John McDonough

Scoring summary 1 PHI Ben Hawkins 10 yard pass from Norm Snead (Mark Moseley kick) Eagles 7–0 2 DAL Walt Garrison 1 yard run (Mike Clark kick) Tie 7–7 3 DAL Lance Rentzel 31 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Mike Clark kick) Cowboys 14–7 4 DAL Mike Clark 13 yard field goal Cowboys 17–7

^[2]

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result
Divisional	Dec. 26, 1970	Detroit Lions	W 5–0
Conference	Jan. 3, 1971	at San Francisco 49ers	W 17–10
Super Bowl V	Jan. 17, 1971	Baltimore Colts	L 16–13

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	10	4	0	.714	5–3	7–4	299	221	W5
New York Giants	9	5	0	.643	6–2	6–5	301	270	L1
St. Louis Cardinals	8	5	1	.615	5–3	6–5	325	228	L3
Washington Redskins	6	8	0	.429	3–5	4–7	297	314	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	3	10	1	.231	1–7	1–9–1	241	332	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff

Dallas Cowboys 5, Detroit Lions 0

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	0	0	0	0
Cowboys	3	0	0	2	5

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 69,613
• Referee: Jim Tunney
• TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Frank Gifford

Game information
Scoring DAL – field goal Clark 26 DAL 3–0 DAL – Safety, Andrie tackled Landry in end zone DAL 5–0

NFC Championship Game

Dallas Cowboys 17, San Francisco 49ers 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	3	14	0	17
49ers	3	0	7	0	10

at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco

• Game time: 5:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), sunny
• Game attendance: 59,364
• Referee: Tommy Bell
• TV announcers (CBS): Ray Scott and Pat Summerall

Game information
Scoring SF – field goal Gossett 16 SF 3–0 DAL – field goal Clark 21 3–3 DAL – Thomas 13 run (Clark kick) DAL 10–3 DAL – Garrison 15 pass from Morton (Clark kick) DAL 17–3 SF – Witcher 26 pass from Brodie (Gossett kick)DAL 17–10

Super Bowl V

Dallas Cowboys 13, Baltimore Colts 16

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts (AFC)	0	6	0	10	16
Cowboys (NFC)	3	10	0	0	13

at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

• Date: January 17, 1971
• Game attendance: 79,204
• Referee: Norm Schachter
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote

Game information
Scoring DAL – field goal Clark 14 DAL 3–0 DAL – field goal Clark 30 DAL 6–0 BAL – Mackey 75 pass from Unitas (kick blocked) 6–6 DAL – Thomas 7 pass from Morton (Clark kick) DAL 13–6 BAL – Nowatzke 2 run (O'Brien kick) 13–13 BAL – field goal O'Brien 32 BAL 16–13

Chuck Howley became the first defensive player, and only member of a losing team to be the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player.

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1970 roster
Quarterbacks 11 Bob Belden 14 Craig Morton 12 Roger Staubach Running Backs 32 Walt Garrison FB 35 Calvin Hill 30 Dan Reeves 33 Duane Thomas KR 42 Claxton Welch Wide Receivers 23 Margene Adkins 22 Bob Hayes PR 24 Dennis Homan 19 Lance Rentzel 88 Reggie Rucker Tight Ends 89 Mike Ditka 84 Pettis Norman		Offensive Linemen 64 Halvor Hagen G/C 72 Tony Liscio T 51 Dave Manders C 73 Ralph Neely T 76 John Niland G 61 Blaine Nye G 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive Linemen 66 George Andrie DE 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Ron East DT 74 Bob Lilly DT 75 Jethro Pugh DT 67 Pat Toomay DE		Linebackers 52 Dave Edwards OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB 60 Steve Kiner OLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB 56 Tom Stincic MLB Defensive Backs 26 Herb Adderley CB 45 Richmond Flowers FS 34 Cornell Green SS/CB 43 Cliff Harris FS 20 Mel Renfro CB/FS 46 Mark Washington CB 41 Charlie Waters FS Special Teams 83 Mike Clark K 10 Ron Widby P		Reserve Lists 78 Bob Asher T (IR) 27 Mike Gaechter SS (IR) Rookies in italics 43 Active, 2 Inactive

Awards and records

• Chuck Howley, Most Valuable Player, Super Bowl V
• Mel Renfro, Pro Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player

Publications

The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4
Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2

References

1. Bill McGrane, "A Mad, Mad, Mad Super Bowl," The Super Bowl: Celebrating a Quarter-Century of America's Greatest Game. Simon and Schuster, 1990 ISBN 0-671-72798-2
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

• 1970 Dallas Cowboys
• Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Dallas Cowboys Official Site